Symposium: How will artificial intelligence affect international law? Using human rights law to inform states’ decisions to deploy AI

Abstract

States are investing heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) technology,1 and are actively incorporating AI tools across the full spectrum of their decision-making processes. However, AI tools are currently deployed without a full understanding of their impact on individuals or society, and in the absence of effective domestic or international regulatory frameworks.2 Although this haste to deploy is understandable given AI’s significant potential, it is unsatisfactory. The inappropriate deployment of AI technologies risks litigation, public backlash, and harm to human rights. In turn, this is likely to delay or frustrate beneficial AI deployments. This essay suggests that human rights law offers a solution. It provides an organizing framework that states should draw on to guide their decisions to deploy AI (or not),3 and can facilitate the clear and transparent justification of those decisions.